


A Royal Family

by afteriwake



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-20
Updated: 2015-06-20
Packaged: 2018-04-05 05:36:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4167927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock's considered having children at various points, but it isn't until little Ana Watson brings it up that he realizes just how much he would actually like a child of his own. Good thing Molly has some news for him in that department.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Royal Family

**Author's Note:**

  * For [benedictedcumberbatched](https://archiveofourown.org/users/benedictedcumberbatched/gifts).



> Another answer to a Sherlolly prompt from Tumblr, this time from AO3 user **benedictedcumberbatched**. I tweaked it slightly, but the original prompt was _Parentlock, Sherlock and Molly have Baby Watson for the day when Sherlock mentions starting a family of their own, only for Molly to announce to him that she is pregnant._. I just thought it would be cuter if Baby Watson (who isn't so much a baby in this) brought it up, but otherwise it answers the prompt exactly!

While he didn't particularly loathe children there were few that he actually could stand to be around. Archie was one of them, but that was mostly because he could see in Archie the spark that had been in him at the same age, the inquisitiveness and the sense that there was something more to solving certain types of puzzles. He was not about to let another child who could have a bright future get stomped down by people not encouraging him, by people telling him that he was too young to work on those types of skills. He was not about to let there be a repeat of his own childhood once again, not if he could bloody well help it. If no one else wanted to mentor and encourage Archie then he would just do it himself. Fortunately that was not the case, as Molly had taken a keen interest in the young boy as well, so he was not alone in his endeavour.

The other child he got on well with was Anastasia Watson. Mary had given birth to a ridiculously healthy girl who was the apple of her parent's eye, and if he was going to be 100% honest, his as well. He adored Ana because she seemed to adore him. One of her first words had been Sherly, and he had told her quite solemnly that she was the only person in the world who could call him that, even if he wasn't sure she understood. One of the things he lived for was watching her brilliant blue eyes light up and the wide smile on her face as she'd say “Unca Sherly!” and race over to him with open arms any time he entered the room. The fact she adored him meant more to him than he was sure anyone would ever understand. He'd scoop her up and get her settled on his hip and then answer any question she had for him, whether her parents groaned or told him not to answer when she asked. He absolutely spoiled her rotten, and no one and nothing was going to stop him.

He'd wondered what it might be like to have a child of his own, during quiet moments with either Archie or Ana. He wondered if he would have a child with a mind as sharp as Archie's, a child who was eager to learn and follow in his footsteps, or whether he'd have a child who was a walking ray of sunshine like Ana, a child who could make the most melancholy mood disappear with a smile or a hug and a peck on the cheek and a whispered “Love you lots.” He tended to keep those thoughts to himself though he could have easily shared them with Molly. After all, any child he might have would most likely be hers as well. She surely had some thoughts on the matter.

Today he decided he wanted to know. He'd tried to talk to her during breakfast, but she'd been preoccupied and he'd left her alone to her thoughts. Today they were doing John and Mary a favor and watching Ana for the evening so that John could go to a dinner and represent the clinic where he worked when they received an award. It wasn't very often John and Mary got time to be actual grown-ups, Molly said, as they didn't want to inconvenience their friends to watch Ana and Ana was a tiny terror for sitters she didn't trust. But the two of them had agreed immediately to watching her tonight, and as soon as Molly's shift at the hospital was over she'd gone over to the Watson's home and joined in on the evening with Sherlock and Ana.

Ana was stacking blocks on the floor, and Sherlock was occasionally adjusting the tower to make sure it didn't topple over as Molly made supper for her and Sherlock. There must have been a lull in what she was doing because she was in the doorway, watching them with a smile. “I think it's a marvelous tower,” she said.

“Prince's tower,” Ana said very seriously.

Molly came over. "It doesn't belong to the princess?” she asked, squatting down next to Ana.

Ana shook her head. “Unca Sherly said a prince lived in the tower, and a very smart princess rescued him. They're King and Queen now.”

“Did he now,” Molly said. “I may have to ask to hear this bedtime story myself tonight, if he's willing to tell me.”

“You already know it,” he said, concentrating on the tower. “You were the princess. I was the prince.”

“So the story's ongoing, is it?” Molly said. “Those are the best kinds, the never-ending stories. Is there a Princess Ana in the story as well?”

Ana nodded. “She's the hon...hono...” Her brow furrowed.

“Honorary,” Molly and Sherlock supplied at the same time, and Ana giggled.

“She's that princess,” Ana said. “She's magic.”

“Oh, is she now?” Molly asked with a wide smile. “How is she magic?”

“She makes everyone happy,” Ana said with a wide grin of her own. Then she looked at Sherlock. “You should have a _real_ princess. I'm Mummy and Daddy's princess. You should have your own.”

Sherlock looked over and he saw Molly tense slightly. That seemed peculiar. “I don't think that would be a particularly bad thing,” he said. “Though I wouldn't mind a prince, either. Just as long as the prince or princess looks like the Queen.”

“I don't know,” Molly said, and he could see her visibly relax. “I think the King is quite dashing. He's got gorgeous eyes, at the very least.”

“Well, then the prince or princess should have the Queen's temperament,” Sherlock said. “They should be kind and caring, and ready with a smile and a kind word, unlike the King.”

“But the King is nice!” Ana protested. “He is good! The princess made him good and then when she married him he became even better. And you can't say any different.” She gave Sherlock a glare and a grin edged along his lips until it was a full blown smile.

“Well, if Princess Ana says the King is nice then I suppose I shouldn't argue,” he said.

“The Queen just so happens to agree with her little Highness,” Molly said, moving towards Sherlock. “And she's fairly sure that in seven months the real prince or princess will be in complete agreement as well.”

Sherlock stopped moving as what Molly said registered, and after a moment his eyes widened. “Molly...” he said quietly. “You're...?”

“I'm a little over seven weeks pregnant,” she said, kneeling down next to Sherlock. “I thought I might be so this morning I had one of my colleagues do blood work to find out for sure but...you're going to be a father, Sherlock, in just about seven months.”

He was stunned for just a moment before he grinned widely. He reached over and pulled Molly onto his lap, and she reached up to frame his face with her hands as he looked down at her. “So we'll have a child of our own?” 

She nodded. “At least one. But just so you know, there's a tendency of twins in my family.”

“I think this could get very interesting,” he said.

“So you're happy with the news?” she asked.

Instead of answering at first, he leaned in and kissed her softly. Ana giggled after a minute, and then he pulled away, staying close to her. “I doubt any news could make me happier,” he said quietly.

“That's what I'd hoped to hear,” she said before she kissed him again, accompanied by clapping and more giggles from Ana. He didn't mind the audience, because really, this was the best news he could have gotten. It didn't matter whether his child was more like Archie or more like Ana, more like him or more like Molly. Regardless of who his child resembled more, he would love that child with all his heart, just as much as he would love the woman who bore them.


End file.
